Scottish Executive

Air Services

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will seek costings and timings for both Glasgow and Prestwick Airports in the specification for the public service obligation in respect of air services to and from the Highlands and Islands and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Lewis Macdonald: No. The link to a major service centre from Campbeltown, Tiree and Barra will take into account the views of the communities concerned and will be detailed in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

Civil Service

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications under paragraph 16, section 4.3, Annex A of the Civil Service Management Code have been approved (a) unconditionally and (b) conditionally in each of the last five years, broken down by department or agency.

Mr Andy Kerr: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-29475 on 1 October 2002. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Community Safety

Nora Radcliffe (Gordon) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how its community safety grant-making policies and monitoring procedures ensure that the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities are addressed by local authorities in their service provision.

Dr Richard Simpson: In April 2002, we introduced the Community Safety Partnership Award Programme which will provide local authority-led partnerships with £12 million over the next three years for crime prevention and community safety initiatives. The partnerships can use their allocations to fund crime prevention and community safety priorities as specified in their community safety strategies and action plans. We do not prescribe what those priorities, which have been identified through a local audit process, should be. It is for local authorities to determine priorities, and allocate resources accordingly. It is open to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities to be part of the local community safety partnership process.

Concessionary Travel

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it is taking to ensure that elderly and disabled people are informed of the concessionary fares scheme commencing from 30 September 2002.

Lewis Macdonald: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1O-5580 on 19 September 2002. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search

Concessionary Travel

John Scott (Ayr) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has considered extending its free bus travel scheme for pensioners to include rail travel.

Lewis Macdonald: We have no such plans.

Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service

Nora Radcliffe (Gordon) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what policies and procedures the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service has in place to ensure that equal opportunities policies, particularly in respect of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, are incorporated into the service’s activities.

Colin Boyd QC: The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service is an equal opportunity employer. Our equal opportunity policy statement refers to all areas of diversity, including sexual orientation. A similar statement is included in all our recruitment literature.

  A fair treatment policy is in place. Any complaints made under this policy are monitored, but to date no complaints have been made in relation to any problems arising because of sexual orientation.

Disclosure Scotland

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-27002 by Mr Jim Wallace on 5 July 2002, whether Disclosure Scotland is meeting its target and how many applications it is currently processing within 10 working days.

Mr Jim Wallace: Disclosure Scotland began operations on 29 April 2002. Between that date and 18 September it had issued Disclosure Certificates within 10 working days for 97.38% of valid applications.

Disclosure Scotland

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications to Disclosure Scotland for checks on volunteers are currently outstanding and for how long they have been outstanding.

Mr Jim Wallace: At 20 September, Disclosure Scotland had 83 outstanding valid applications from volunteers that had been routed through the Central Registered Body Scotland. Of these 83, 59 are within the 10 working day target to which Disclosure Scotland is working for processing 90% of valid applications.

  The remaining 24 fall into two categories: in 19 cases Disclosure Scotland is awaiting a response from a police force to a request for information about an applicant, and in the other five cases additional information has been requested from the applicant.

  Two of the outstanding cases date from July and these were being processed on 20 September.

Disclosure Scotland

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether documents supplied by Disclosure Scotland are accessible to those with disabilities and what the reasons are for the position on this matter.

Mr Jim Wallace: Disclosure Scotland is currently working on disclosure documentation for people with disabilities.

Doors Open Day

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive to which of its buildings, other than those under care or control of Historic Scotland, it has allowed the public access under Doors Open Day schemes in each of the last three years.

Mr Andy Kerr: Victoria Quay in Edinburgh participated in the event in 1996 and 1999.

Environment

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consult universities and the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council about resolving any problems with the cost of safely storing and disposing of radioactive material used in university research.

Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive is considering this issue with representatives of higher education institutions.

Ferry Services

Mr Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive why Orkney Ferries, servicing the smaller islands, receives no tariff rebate subsidy (TRS), given that those who ship with Northlink do benefit from TRS.

Lewis Macdonald: Parliament approved, earlier this year, an Undertaking allowing the payment of Tariff Rebate Subsidy to NorthLink Orkney and Shetland Ferries Limited for the transport of livestock between the Northern Isles and the Scottish mainland. This complements the arrangements which the Executive has in place to subsidise the carriage of passengers and accompanied cars over the same routes. Responsibility for Orkney Ferries, which provides services within the Orkney archipelago, and for any subsidies applied to these services rests with Orkney Islands Council.

Fire Service

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what impact the removal of fire cover due to a strike by firefighters would have on the operation of (a) football grounds, (b) theatres, (c) cinemas, (d) airports, (e) the rail network, and (f) care homes for the elderly, given the conditions under which public safety licences affecting these are granted by local authorities.

Mr Jim Wallace: The key to safety in many situations in the event of fire is evacuation time, which does not rely on the presence of the Fire Service. Advice is being issued which will request those responsible to review evacuation procedures and fire prevention measures, taking account of the possibility of industrial action.

Fire Service

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what emergency planning arrangements are in place for the use of army personnel during any strike by firefighters; how many army personnel would be required, and what appliances and specialist equipment they will have available to them.

Mr Jim Wallace: Contingency plans exist for a range of possible scenarios including industrial action in the Fire Service. In Scotland a total of 2,000 service personnel would be involved. There would be over 100 Green Goddess fire tenders, 36 Breathing Apparatus Rescue Teams and eight Rescue Equipment Support Teams.

  It is to be hoped that common sense will prevail and that, in the light of the setting up of the Independent Review, the Fire Brigades Union will withdraw their wholly unnecessary call for industrial action.

Fire Service

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there has been any assessment of the insurance implications for local authorities of not being able to provide a normal fire service in the event of a strike by firefighters.

Mr Jim Wallace: In the event of industrial action by the Fire Brigades Union, it is our understanding that no claim would lie against the Fire Authority for an alleged breach of its statutory duty under the Fire Services Act 1947 to provide fire cover.

Fire Service

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance will be issued to army personnel in advance of any deployment of them on firefighting duties in dealing with particular situations and what training they will have had ahead of any deployment as a result of any such guidance.

Mr Jim Wallace: Personnel are being drawn from all three services across the whole of the defence establishment. In total across the UK this will involve about 19,000 personnel. Personnel will be trained and equipped to provide basic emergency fire and rescue cover. Some existing service Fire Rescue Teams are already trained and experienced in the use of breathing apparatus and other special equipment but additional personnel are also being trained in these techniques. Training is being carried out at service bases across the country.

Fire Service

Mr Lloyd Quinan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what training is being given to army personnel to allow them to undertake the duties normally undertaken by fire service personnel in the event of any industrial action by fire service personnel; who is providing this training; how many army personnel are being trained, and how many it estimates will need to be mobilised.

Mr Jim Wallace: Personnel are being drawn from all three services across the whole of the defence establishment. In total across the UK this will involve about 19,000 personnel. Personnel will be trained and equipped to provide basic emergency fire and rescue cover. Some existing service Fire Rescue Teams are already trained and experienced in the use of breathing apparatus and other special equipment but additional personnel are also being trained in these techniques. Training is being carried out at service bases across the country.

Fire Service

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is any requirement to introduce emergency legislation in respect of insurance cover for local authorities being lifted during the period of any industrial action by firefighters and, if so, whether such legislation would be introduced in the Scottish Parliament and whether it has any plans to introduce any such legislation.

Mr Jim Wallace: There are no plans at this time to introduce emergency legislation.

Fire Service

Mr Lloyd Quinan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what contingency plans are now in place to deal with any industrial action by fire service personnel and what the estimated cost of implementing such plans would be.

Mr Jim Wallace: Contingency plans are in place for a range of possible scenarios, including industrial action in the Fire Service. Detailed planning is taking place between the military and emergency services on the arrangements for responding to emergency calls. The costs will depend on the scale and duration of any industrial action.

Fire Service

Mr Lloyd Quinan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what life-saving and cutting equipment it or local authorities have purchased for use by the army in the event of any industrial action by fire service personnel and what the cost of purchasing any such equipment was.

Mr Jim Wallace: None. Any equipment which the services consider necessary to acquire, in preparing their contingency planning in the event of industrial action by the Fire Service, is being acquired by the services themselves.

Fire Service

Mr Lloyd Quinan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how (a) football stadia, (b) theatres, (c) care homes, (d) cinemas, (e) airports and (f) the rail network will operate in the event of any industrial action by fire service personnel given that their safety licences are issued by local authorities after inspection.

Mr Jim Wallace: The key to safety in many situations in the event of fire is evacuation time, which does not rely on the presence of the Fire Service. Advice is being issued which will request those responsible to review evacuation procedures and fire prevention measures, taking account of the possibility of industrial action.

Fire Service

Mr Lloyd Quinan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the economic consequences for, and impact on jobs in, the insurance industry will be in the event of any industrial action by fire service personnel and any resultant increase in insurance claims.

Mr Jim Wallace: It would not be helpful to speculate on these matters at this time. The proposed industrial action is unnecessary, would be deeply damaging and could put lives at risk. The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) should co-operate with Professor Sir George Bain’s Independent Review.

Firearms

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it plans to take to reduce illegal possession of firearms other than air weapons by under-21s.

Mr Jim Wallace: Firearms policy and legislation are reserved matters. The Scottish Police Service, working closely with Police Services in the rest of the UK as well as with the National Criminal Intelligence Service, seeks rigorously to investigate and pursue the illegal possession of firearms.

Fuel Duty

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it costs to administer the Fuel Duty Rebate scheme annually.

Lewis Macdonald: The Bus Service Operator's Grant (BSOG) scheme is administered by the Department for Transport on a Great Britain basis with the overall costs met from that department's running cost provision, reflecting the position before devolution. BSOG is a devolved matter and as such payments to Scottish bus operators are funded by the Scottish Executive. The budget for BSOG in this financial year is £54.8 million.

Genetically Modified Crops

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive on what scientific evidence the Supply Chain Initiative on Modified Agricultural Crops (SCIMAC) guidelines recommending separation distances between GM and non-GM crops are based.

Ross Finnie: The guidelines prepared by SCIMAC are that organisation’s own responsibility and have no regulatory authority. Any separation distances stipulated in consents to release GM crops have the confidence of our statutory advisory bodies that they will minimise pollen dispersal effectively. The advisory bodies keep abreast of scientific research in the field of gene flow and regularly review their advice to government on separation distances.

Genetically Modified Crops

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it retains confidence in the separation distances contained in the Supply Chain Initiative on Modified Agricultural Crops (SCIMAC) guidelines following the report in the Sunday Times on 15 September 2002 regarding the contamination with GM pollen of honey from hives in the Newport area which are two miles from the on-going GM oil seed rape farm scale evaluation.

Ross Finnie: It is widely acknowledged that bees foraging on oil seed rape may disperse pollen beyond the trial site no matter what separation distances are in place. The Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment considers this issue as part of the environmental risk assessment, which is an integral part of the approval process. If pollen dispersal was considered harmful to human health or the environment, the crop would have been refused consent.

  The separation distances contained in the SCIMAC guidelines have no statutory authority.

Genetically Modified Crops

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the introduction of GM organisms into the food chain as a result of the contamination of honey with GM pollen breaches any laws and, if so, which specific laws are breached.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: I am advised by the Food Standards Agency that all GM foods to be marketed in the EU must comply with the EC Novel Foods Regulation (258/97). The European Commission has, however, stated that honey unintentionally containing pollen transferred by bees from GM crops is not a novel food and does not require labelling under that regulation.

Genetically Modified Crops

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is any proposal for compensating beekeepers and farmers whose produce may be contaminated by GM crop trials.

Ross Finnie: There are no plans to introduce statutory provisions allowing claims for compensation for contamination specifically by a genetically modified organism.

  It is recognised that some GM crops produce pollen, very small quantities of which may be dispersed by operation of nature beyond the trial site. The consequences of this are considered carefully before consent for release is granted. On the basis of this assessment, the Executive is unaware of any safety or legal reasons why the GM crops which have been approved in Scotland should have an adverse effect on beekeepers or non-GM growers in the vicinity of trial sites.

Health Promotion

Nora Radcliffe (Gordon) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when the results of the consultation on the Physical Activity Task Force strategy will be published.

Malcolm Chisholm: A report of the consultation on the Physical Activity Task Force draft strategy will be published at the end of this month.

Housing

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1O-3541 by Mrs Margaret Curran on 6 June 2001, whose duty it is to monitor that transfers of Scottish Homes properties to social landlords comply with The Code of Practice for Tenant Participation in Stock Transfers.

Ms Margaret Curran: Scottish Homes’ Board ensures that Scottish Homes’ stock transfer proposals comply with the principles set out in the Code of Practice.

Justice

Brian Fitzpatrick (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the findings of the Inquiry by Sir Robin Auld, Review of the Criminal Courts of England and Wales , published on 8 October 2001 in relation to the modernisation of the criminal justice system in Scotland

Mr Jim Wallace: There are currently two reviews of the criminal justice system in Scotland. That being conducted by Lord Bonomy is examining the operation of the High Court, while a committee chaired by Sheriff Principal McInnes is looking at the system of summary justice. I expect both of these reviews to produce proposals for the modernisation of the Scottish criminal justice system.

  Sir Robin Auld’s Review of the Criminal Courts of England and Wales focused exclusively on the courts and legal system in England and Wales but contains a number of proposals that could have relevance for Scotland. As noted in the replies to questions S1W-27759 and S1W-27760 on 15 August 2002, we are following their development with close interest.

Justice

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance or directions it has issued, or plans to issue, to prosecutors in respect of the consideration of bail applications from people (a) charged with and (b) convicted of (i) serious assault, (ii) rape, (iii) culpable homicide and (iv) murder.

Colin Boyd QC: Procurators Fiscal have detailed instructions on the decision whether to oppose bail applications from persons accused of criminal offences but not yet convicted. These take account of factors including the seriousness of the offence, the criminal record of the accused, the risk which liberation on bail might pose to victims and witnesses, any factors which indicate a probability that the accused will fail to appear at court and the existence of any current bail orders. The decision on whether to admit accused to bail is a matter for the court.

Justice

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what investigations into the operation of the justiciary the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice has recently instructed should be carried out.

Mr Jim Wallace: It is not for ministers to conduct investigations into the operation of the independent judiciary. Ministers and the senior judiciary correspond and meet from time to time on issues of common concern.

Justice

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of offenders arrested for the possession of a knife in each year since 1993 were under the age of 18 in (a) Scotland and (b) each police force area.

Mr Jim Wallace: The recorded crime statistics collected centrally do not include information on those arrested or the circumstances of crimes, such as the method of committing the crime or the age of the offender. The available information given in the table shows the total number of persons proceeded against in Scottish courts for "Having in a public place an article with a blade or point" and the proportion of offenders who were aged under 18.

  Persons Proceeded Against for Having in a Public Place an Article With a Blade or Point1, in Scottish Courts, 1993-2000

  
 Year
Total persons Percentage 
aged under 182 
1993 121
16  1994
572 12
 1995
956 14
 1996
1,360 14
 1997
1,311 14
 1998
1,201 14
 1999
1,291 14
 2000
1,364 13


  Notes:

  1. Where main offence.

  2. Age is as at date of sentence or acquittal.

Justice

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of robberies in each year since 1993 involved young people as either (a) the victim, (b) the offender or (c) both in (i) Scotland and (ii) each police force area.

Mr Jim Wallace: The recorded crime statistics collected centrally do not include information on those arrested or the circumstances of crimes, such as the method of committing the crime or the age of the offender. The available information given in the table shows the total number of persons proceeded against in Scottish courts for Robbery (including assault with intent to rob) and the proportion of offenders who were aged under 18.

  Persons Proceeded Against for Robbery1, in Scottish Courts, 1993-2000

  
 Year
Total persons Percentage 
aged under 182 
1993 1,006
14  1994
990 16
 1995
855 17
 1996
933 23
 1997
852 24
 1998
763 19
 1999
825 15
 2000
758 14


  Notes:

  1. Where main offence, includes assault with intent to rob.

  2. Age is as at date of sentence or acquittal.

Justice

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of robberies in each year since 1993 were carried out at knife-point in (a) Scotland and (b) each police force area.

Mr Jim Wallace: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Justice

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any police forces are reviewing old sexual assault cases using new DNA technology and, if so, which forces are doing so and what the results have been.

Mr Jim Wallace: All Scottish Police Forces operate a continuous process of review in respect of all outstanding crime scenes stains held on the national DNA database. To date, the results of this process include a conviction for a sexually motivated murder in 1975 within the Strathclyde area and a recent serial rape and indecency case spanning the Strathclyde and Lothian and Borders Police Force areas, which was brought together by a detection on the database. Further details are available from individual forces.

Justice

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many convictions there have been under section 1(5) of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949 in each of the last five years, detailing convictions with regard to television licences separately.

Mr Jim Wallace: The number of convictions for all offences under the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949 is given in the table. Convictions for offences under section 1(5) of the act cannot be separately identified in the data held centrally. Information for 2001 is not expected to be available until around November 2002.

  Number of Persons With a Charge Proved for Offences under the Wireless Telegraphy Act 19491, 1996-2000

  
 Year Number
 1996 5,642
 1997 2,893
 1998 1,362
 19992
582  2000
1,967 

  Notes:

  1. Where main offence.

  2. Based on incomplete data.

Justice

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-27993 by Mr Jim Wallace on 16 September 2002, why there are no plans to conduct research into the investigation and prosecution of cases involving allegations of rape.

Mr Jim Wallace: While we have no plans to commission Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary to undertake research into the investigation and prosecution of cases involving allegations of rape, we will consider further the need for research once the review mentioned in the answer given to question S1W-28798 on 13 September 2002 has been completed. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search

Licensing

John Young (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any plans to amend the Licensing (Scotland) Act 1976 which forbids the sale of alcohol in supermarkets prior to 12.30 pm on Sundays.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Executive appointed an independent committee in July 2001, chaired by Sheriff Principal Gordon Nicholson, to review liquor licensing law. The committee is expected to report early next year and I assume this is one of the issues the report will comment on. The Executive will not be taking any action towards changing the law prior to considering the report.

Ministerial Visits

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-29052 by Mr Andy Kerr on 9 September 2002, what the estimated cost of overseas engagements by ministers will be in the current financial year.

Mr Andy Kerr: Following the answer to question S1W-29052, the Scottish Executive will publish as early as possible in summer 2003 information on the actual incurred costs of all the overseas engagements carried out by ministers during the financial year 2002-03.

Music Tuition

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much was raised through receipts from charges for school music tuition in each of the last three years, broken down by local authority.

Nicol Stephen: The information requested is not held centrally.

Music Tuition

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities charge for music tuition and how much each such local authority charges.

Nicol Stephen: The information requested is not held centrally.

NHS Spending

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the NHS budget is spent on non-conventional medicine.

Malcolm Chisholm: Complementary and alternative medicine treatments, such as homeopathy and osteopathy can feature within NHS services, and this is a matter for local decision.

  During the financial year ending 31 March 2002, the Prescription Cost Analysis system records that 38,157 homeopathic items were dispensed in the community with a gross ingredient cost of £109,132. Data on homeopathic medicines dispensed by hospitals or hospital-based clinics are not available centrally.

  Data on other non-conventional medicines, for example herbal medicines, are not separately identified because of the small numbers of prescription items.

  Data on non-conventional therapies provided by the NHS such as acupuncture are also not held centrally.

Nursery Nurses

Alex Fergusson (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to standardise qualifications for nursery nurses.

Cathy Jamieson: The Executive has no current plans to change the qualifications structure for nursery nurses.

  We are commissioning research into the content of early years qualifications, to be completed in 2003. The results of this research will help to inform future consideration of the early years qualifications structure.

Police

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the current position is on introduction of an independent ombudsman to oversee police complaints; how many complaints have been made against each police force in each of the last three years, and how many such complaints were upheld.

Mr Jim Wallace: The introduction of an ombudsman-type body is one of the options for change the Executive is currently considering to enhance the independence of the police complaints system following last year's consultation. The information requested in relation to complaints against police officers is given in the following tables:

  Complaints Cases Received by Police Forces

   
Force Central
D & G Fife
Grampian L 
& B Northern
Strathclyde Tayside
Scotland  1999-2000
102 27
76 240
347 69
496 83
1,440  2000-01
84 24
90 155
340 71
502 152
1,418  2001-02
151 51
240 123
726 101
1,173 348
2,913 

  Complaints Allegations Substantiated

  
 Force Central
D &G Fife
Grampian L 
& B Northern
Strathclyde Tayside
Scotland  1999-2000
5 2
28 42
109 2
11 12
211  2000-01
8 2
52 25
87 4
12 41
231  2001-02
29 4
49 19
92 6
85 29
313 

  Source: Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary.

  Notes:

  (i) Each case may have one or more complaint(s) within it, and not all cases are disposed of in the same year in which they are received. The cases received do not therefore tally with the complaint allegations substantiated.

  (ii) The increase in cases for 2001-02 is in part attributable to the introduction of new nationally agreed recording procedures.

Police

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average or median time is for a police officer to process an arrest from arrival with an accused at the police station to the officer’s returning to duties in each year since 1997; if no such information is recorded, whether it will now do so, and what the reasons are for its position on the matter.

Mr Jim Wallace: Information at this level of detail is not held centrally. I would expect forces to be taking steps, including the introduction of appropriate technology, to ensure that processing times are kept to a minimum in order to maximise officer time on front-line duties. Force practices are scrutinised by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) and best practice shared. HMIC works jointly with Audit Scotland in scrutinising forces’ approach to Best Value and, in 2003, will be carrying out a thematic inspection of crime management.

Police

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what evaluation has been made of police training programmes for the investigation of rape and sexual assaults; when any such evaluation was undertaken, and what the outcome was.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Scottish Police College which is primarily responsible for the provision of this type of training has a training evaluation policy for the review of central police training in Scotland. All courses and component parts of courses delivered at the college are subject to the same evaluation process which includes a reaction evaluation or workplace evaluation of a percentage of courses delivered by the college. Any deficiencies identified through that evaluation process are then dealt with in a way commensurate with the issues raised. This allows training to be tailored to workplace and operational requirements.

  At the end of each course, students are asked for their reactions as to the benefit, challenge and satisfaction that they perceived that they derived from the courses. Students are asked to rate each category in terms of how the course met their needs from zero (Not at All) to four (Completely). The following table lists the three courses delivered by the college which include the investigation of rape and sexual assault, and shows the average results obtained, together with a mean value of how each course was rated in 2001-2002.

  
 Course
Benefit Challenge
Satisfaction Mean
 Advanced Detective Training
3.91 3.36
3.73 3.67
 Initial Detective Training Course
3.08 3.43
3.03 3.18
 Child Protection Course
3.80 2.96
3.63 3.46

Police

Brian Fitzpatrick (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what input it or police forces had to the work of the Policing Bureaucracy Task Force under the chairmanship of Sir David O’Dowd.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Policing Bureaucracy Task Force was established by the Home Office in 2001 to consider ways of increasing police officer visibility in England and Wales. The Executive was not asked directly to input to the work of the task force and I am not aware of any Scottish force being approached.

  HM Inspectorate of Constabulary for Scotland is due to publish the results of a thematic inspection into public reassurance and police visibility in Scotland in November 2002.

Police

Brian Fitzpatrick (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it holds on the number of pro forma documents that are in regular use by front-line police and support staff.

Mr Jim Wallace: Reducing unnecessary bureaucracy in the police service is clearly an important matter and we are always open to ways to reduce this. The Policing Bureaucracy Task Force, set up by the Home Office in 2001 to consider ways of increasing police officer visibility in England and Wales, collected information on the number of pro forma documents as part of its work. While information on pro forma documents used by Scottish police forces is not collected centrally by the Executive, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary for Scotland is due to publish the results of a thematic inspection into public reassurance and police visibility in Scotland in November 2002.

Police

Brian Fitzpatrick (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of any unnecessary burdens or costs imposed by red tape on police forces.

Mr Jim Wallace: Reducing unnecessary bureaucracy in the police service is clearly an important matter and we are always open to ways to reduce this. HM Inspectorate of Constabulary for Scotland (HMIC) has made clear the importance it attaches to ensuring that the Scottish Police Service achieves best value and primary inspections of Scottish forces now include a joint review of best value practices with Audit Scotland. HMIC is also due to publish the results of a thematic inspection into public reassurance and police visibility in Scotland in November 2002. The terms of reference for that thematic included the identification of good practice within forces with a view to improving service delivery.

Prison Service

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to the Annual Report 2001-02 by the Over 21's Visiting Committee at HM Prison and Young Offenders' Institute Cornton Vale, whether sufficient resources are being provided to tackle drug addiction in the prison.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  Yes. Cornton Vale makes available and is further developing a range of interventions/drugs programmes including health care and addictions assessment, information and awareness, detoxification and substitute prescribing, relapse prevention and pre- and post-release support. MDT allows the prison to monitor drug misuse and the effectiveness of interventions and to identify inmates who may need specialist support.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive why figures for HM Prison Kilmarnock are not included in table 110 of Drug Misuse Statistics Scotland 2001 published by the Information and Statistics Division.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The required information was not available in a format compatible with other prisons at the time that the data was submitted to the Information and Statistics Division. This data will be available in future editions of the report.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-9900 by Mr Jim Wallace on 29 September 2000, (a) how many and (b) what percentage of prison inmates (i) received drug counselling and rehabilitation in 2000-01 and 2001-02 and (ii) are currently receiving such counselling and rehabilitation.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  Readily available information on drug treatment performance is published annually in the Drug Misuse Statistics Scotland annual bulletin. These figures for 2000-01 are at table 111 in the 2001 report (Drug Misuse Statistics Scotland 2001, Information and Statistics Division, 2002).

  The figures for 2001-02 will be published in the next annual bulletin.

Prison Service

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-28201 by Mr Jim Wallace on 14 August 2002, what criteria were used in the allocation by the Scottish Prison Service to HM Prison Kilmarnock of the contract with Cranstoun Drug Services.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  Casework allocations (the in-prison part of the service) were made on the basis of prisoner throughput except for HM Prison Kilmarnock who were already contracted to provide this service and SPS therefore wished to avoid the taxpayer paying twice for the same service. Transitional Care allocations (the community part of the service) were assessed on the basis of prisoner throughput to different parts of Scotland. This second service is available to prisoners released from all of Scotland’s prisons, including those held at HMP Kilmarnock.

Prison Service

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the total cost of the contract with Cranstoun Drug Services will be; what the cost will be in each prison, and what the contract covers in each prison.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The cost of the contract is currently just under £3 million per full year, and will run for an initial term until end March 2004.

  The contract offers assessment, care planning, 1:1 work, case review and pre-release planning within the prison to all prisoners with an identified drug, alcohol or volatile substance misuse problem, and post-release advocacy support for up to 12 weeks after liberation. At HMP Kilmarnock in-prison services are provided by Premier Prison Services staff, with Cranstoun involved in pre-release planning and post-release support.

Prison Service

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement on the prison estates review by the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice on 5 September 2002, whether the proposed private-build, private-operate prison will be entirely for remand prisoners.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The new private-build private-operate prison will be designed and built as a fully flexible prison in order to secure value for money, but as the Deputy First Minister made clear during the debate in Parliament, it is our intention to use those places to respond to the recent significant increase in remand prisoners.

Prison Service

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement on the prison estates review by the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice on 5 September 2002, what assessment it has made of the additional cost of transporting remand prisoners to a 700-place remand prison.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  None.

Prison Service

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement on the prison estates review by the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice on 5 September 2002, what assessment it has made of the financial risk to it of a change in policy leading to there being not sufficient remand prisoners to fill a 700-place privately-operated remand prison.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  No such risk is believed to exist. The privately-built, privately-operated prison is to be capable of housing both remand and convicted prisoners, and so any spare capacity could be used to house convicted prisoners.

Prison Service

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement on the prison estates review by the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice on 5 September 2002, what catchment area is envisaged for the private-build, private-operate remand prison.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  It is anticipated that the new private-build private-operate prison will mainly serve courts in the Central Belt.

Prison Service

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement on the prison estates review by the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice on 5 September 2002, whether women prisoners might be held in the private-build, private-operate remand prison.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  A detailed specification for the new private-build private-operate prison has yet to be developed.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement on the prison estates review by the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice on 5 September 2002 and to the remarks by the Minister in the Sunday Herald on 8 September 2002 on market-tested prisons in England, whether it is considering market-testing for the Scottish Prison Service.

Mr Jim Wallace: No.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement on the prison estates review by the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice on 5 September 2002, what criteria it will use to assess the (a) robustness, (b) credibility, (c) competitiveness and (d) value for money of a plan for a public sector prison.

Mr Jim Wallace: The criteria will be those set out in my statement: that is, whether any proposals can consistently thereafter deliver the required number and quality of prisoner places, on time and consistently thereafter in a way that is competitive and delivers value for money to the taxpayer.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement on the prison estates review by the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice on 5 September 2002, whether it envisages providing land free of charge or for a peppercorn rent to the new private-build, private-operate prison.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The approach to be taken will be determined as part of work on the detail of the procurement strategy and will be designed to secure value for money for the taxpayer.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement on the prison estates review by the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice on 5 September 2002, what its estimate is of what the contract monitoring costs of the new private-build, private-operate prison will be, including both construction and operation phases.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-29269. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement on the prison estates review by the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice on 5 September 2002, whether a public sector comparator will be calculated as part of the business case for the new private-build, private-operate prison.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  A detailed case for procuring a new private-build private-operate prison was set out in the Estates Review consultation paper and supporting documentation, as published on 21 March 2002. As the decision to procure such a prison has now been taken there is no need to prepare a further business case.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement on the prison estates review by the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice on 5 September 2002, how it will ensure that the workforce in privately-operated prisons are no less well trained than in publicly-operated prisons.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  This will, like all other inputs, be a matter for the successful tenderers as they will be taking the risks of not delivering the outputs demanded in the contracts. We will look for evidence of good employment practices when considering tenders for the new private prison, and key elements of successful bids will be built into the resulting contracts.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement on the prison estates review by the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice on 5 September 2002, how it will ensure that the workforce in privately-operated prisons are no less well paid than in publicly-operated prisons.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-29278. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement on the prison estates review by the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice on 5 September 2002, how it will ensure recruitment standards in privately-operated prisons are as high as in publicly-operated prisons.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-29278. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement on the prison estates review by the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice on 5 September 2002, how it will ensure that staff turnover in privately-operated prisons is no higher than in publicly-operated prisons.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-29278. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement on the prison estates review by the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice on 5 September 2002, whether it will give any commitment to ensuring that pensions for staff in privately-operated prisons are on the same or similar terms to those for staff in publicly-operated prisons.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-29278. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-25268 by Mr Jim Wallace on 21 June 2002, what risk is attached to a fixed-price prison construction contract.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  It is not the only way or necessarily the best way of delivering best value for money. A fixed-price may, for example, be considerably higher than a non fixed-price contract. It is a question which can only sensibly assessed by an experienced procurement team which has access to expert advice on the market circumstances and the evaluation of risk.

Prison Service

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Prison Service constrains or plans to constrain the ability of serving prisoners to publish material relating to their crime.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  Prisoners are prohibited from writing about their own crime or past offences or those of others, except where such writing consists of serious representation about conviction or sentence or forms part of serious comment about crime, the process of justice or the penal system.

Prison Service

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-28445 by Mr Jim Wallace on 11 September 2002, when the studies carried out by Dr David Cooke, Psychological Disturbance amongst Prisoners , and Dr James McManus, Mentally Disturbed Prisoners , will be updated in order to determine the current situation in the prison service on the matters covered by the studies.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  There are no plans to update these studies.

Prison Service

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether members of the board of the Scottish Prison Service receive performance related pay and, if so, what proportion of that pay has been related to (a) custody objectives and (b) rehabilitation objectives in (i) 1999-2000, (ii) 2000-01, (iii) 2001-02 and (iv) 2002-03 to date.

Mr Jim Wallace: The executive members of the SPS board are members of the senior civil service and are subject to the same Senior Civil Service pay and performance management system as other Senior Civil Servants in the Scottish Executive. Pay is dependent on performance against individual objectives, which are not classified in the way suggested. Details of the Civil Service pay system can be found at www.cabinet-office.gov.uk.

Prison Service

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether its contract with Medacs for the provision of medical services in prisons includes the requirement that the contractor must comply with recommendation R(98)7 of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers concerning the ethical and organisational aspects of health care in prisons.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  The Council of Europe Recommendation No R(98)7 "recommends that governments of member states: take into account, when reviewing their legislation and in their practice in the area of healthcare provision in prison, the principles and recommendations set out in the appendix".

  The appendix contains 74 paragraphs of principles and recommendations plus an explanatory memorandum and commentary on the recommendations. SPS took these recommendations into account in the design of the specification for the contract for the provision of medical services to prisons.

Prison Service

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in respect of each paragraph of recommendation R(98)7 of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers concerning the ethical and organisational aspects of health care in prisons, compliance is its responsibility or the responsibility of the contractor for the provision of medical services and whether it will detail the responsible party for each individual paragraph.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  I refer the member to the answer to given question S1W-29525. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Prison Service

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what specific provision it has made to ensure that the Scottish Prison Service or the contractor for the provision of medical services in prisons complies with paragraph 22 of recommendation R(98)7 of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers concerning the ethical and organisational aspects of health care in prisons.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The Scottish Prison Service is aware of the recommendations of the Council of Europe on the Ethical and Organisational Aspects of Health Care in Prison. These have been taken into account when drawing up the contract for the provision of medical services in prisons. Remuneration of individual Medical Officers is the responsibility of the contractor.

Prison Service

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what specific provision it has made to ensure that the Scottish Prison Service or the contractor for the provision of medical service in prisons complies with paragraph 10 of recommendation R(98)7 of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers concerning the ethical and organisational aspects of health care in prisons.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-29525. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-24997 by Mr Jim Wallace on 9 May 2002, how it monitors any improvements in the literacy, numeracy and other basic skills of prisoners and what data it collects to identify any such improvements and highlight any alterations which require to be made in the teaching programmes.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) intends to develop a new computerised system for tracking individual prisoner progress or "distance travelled". This will include learning achievements that will be mapped against the national Scottish Credit Qualifications Framework.

  SPS have recently appointed a Prisoner Literacies Development Manager as one of the four national Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Department Literacies Pathfinder Projects.

  Quality teaching and learning in this area is a high priority for the SPS and subject to review on a regular basis through monitoring meetings with the learning providers.

Prison Service

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many incidents of self-harm have been recorded in HM Prison Cornton Vale in (a) 1999-2000, (b) 2000-01, (c) 2001-02 and (d) 2002-03 to date.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  
 Year Number
 1999 114
 2000 72
 2001 89
 Jan-Sept 2002
70

Public Appointments

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-27777 by Mr Andy Kerr on 29 August 2002, whether it will list those outside bodies contacted as part of the parliamentary notification system when making public appointments since May 2002 and in respect of which vacancies they were contacted.

Mr Andy Kerr: In addition to the Parliament’s Reference Centre and the relevant Parliamentary Committees, the outside bodies contacted as part of the Parliamentary Notification system since May 2002 are shown in the following table:

   
Outside Bodies Contacted  CBI Scotland
 STUC  Association of 
Chief Officers of Scottish Voluntary Organisations 
Community Service Volunteers  Councils for 
Voluntary Service   Scottish Council for Voluntary 
Organisations  Unemployed Voluntary Action Fund
 Volunteer Centre Scotland 
Volunteer Development Scotland  Women’s Royal 
Voluntary Service  Black & Ethnic Minority 
Infrastructure in Scotland  Central Scotland 
Racial Equality Council  Commission for Racial 
Equality  Edinburgh & Lothians Racial Equality 
Council  Equal Opportunities Commission
 Equality Network  Fife 
Racial Equality Council  Grampian Racial Equality 
Council  Hamilton Disability Forum
 Inclusion Scotland  Positive 
Action in Housing  Scottish Disability Equality 
Forum  Tayside Racial Equality Council
 West of Scotland Racial Equality Council 
Women’s Forum Scotland  Women’s National 
Commission  Workers Educational Association 
 

  The outside bodies have been sent details of the following vacancies since May 2002:

  
 Vacancies  Rent Assessment 
Panel  Scottish Screen 
Quality and Standards Board for Health in Scotland 
Scottish Legal Aid Board  Crofters Commission
 Scottish Social Services Council 
Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh  Mental 
Welfare Commission for Scotland  Fisheries (Electricity) 
Committee  Scottish Environment Protection Agency
 Sportscotland  National 
Waiting Times Centre Board  Bòrd Gàidhlig 
na h-Alba  Scottish Advisory Committee on Distinction 
Awards  VisitScotland 
Scottish Natural Heritage  NHS Trust Chairs
 Parole Board for Scotland 
Council for the Regulation of Health Care Professions 
Shetland NHS Board  Scottish Qualification 
Authority

Public Appointments

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-28344 by Ms Margaret Curran on 9 September 2002, whether it will list when there has been a vacancy for a Scottish position on (a) the Commission for Racial Equality, (b) the Equal Opportunities Commission, (c) the National Disability Council and (d) each of the UK research councils since May 1999; who it put forward for such vacancies and by which minister any names were put forward, and whether it is aware of who was finally appointed to each post.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues, including public appointments. Kay Hampton was appointed in April 2002 to the Commission for Racial Equality as having special knowledge of Scotland. Rowena Arshad was appointed as the Scottish Commissioner for Equal Opportunities Commission in 2001. In June 1999, Alan Dickson, an existing member of the National Disability Council was designated as the member with special knowledge of Scotland. The National Disability Council was abolished in April 2000 following the establishment of the Disability Rights Commission (DRC). The new position of DRC Commissioner with special knowledge of Scotland was filled for the first time in April 2000 by Elaine Noad. There are no Scottish positions on Research Councils.

Public Appointments

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many of the 161 applicants received for the recent vacancies on the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC) were politically active, broken down to show the applicants’ political affiliation.

Iain Gray: All applicants completed political activity declaration forms. The information provided plays no part in the selection process. Candidates agree that this information will be made publicly available if they are appointed and the information for the successful candidates in the 2002 appointments round for SHEFC is as follows:

  
 Re-appointments: 
No political activity declared:  
2  New appointments: 
No political activity declared:  
3  Political activity declared:
 1 (Labour) 

  The News Release announcing these appointments indicated that there was no recorded political activity declared by any of the appointees, when in fact one candidate had declared political activity for the Labour Party. This was an administrative error in the compilation of the News Release, and those involved accept full responsibility. Steps have been taken to ensure such a mistake does not recur. I apologise for the release of this inaccurate information.

Public Sector Ombudsman

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any decision has been made to locate the offices of the public sector ombudsman in Edinburgh and, if so, what consultation took place prior to such a decision.

Peter Peacock: This is a matter for the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman, who is independent of the Scottish Executive and Parliament.

Public Transport

Nora Radcliffe (Gordon) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what specific funding will be made available to deliver the top priority public transport projects flowing from the Central Scotland Transport Corridor studies, as promised in Building a Better Scotland – Spending Proposals 2003-2006: What the money buys .

Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive is currently considering the consultants’ recommendations and the comments arising from public consultation on the Corridor Study reports. Decisions on which priority public transport projects to progress have yet to be made and will take account of both the consultants’ recommendations and comments from consultation.

Rail Network

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what sections of track on the railway line from Edinburgh to Glasgow via Shotts need to be upgraded and electrified; what distance such sections cover; what the cost of such upgrading and electrification is estimated to be, and what action it plans to take in respect of this matter.

Lewis Macdonald: The 22 mile section of track between Midcalder Junction and Holytown on the Edinburgh Waverley to Glasgow Central (via Shotts) line is not electrified. The Scottish Executive has currently no plans to progress further electrification of the rail network in Scotland.

Road Accidents

Mr Murray Tosh (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will give injury accident statistics for each of the last six years for the A7 trunk road south of Galashiels, broken down to show statistics for the sections at Boleside and in the vicinity of Groundistone that are under consideration for inclusion in improvements to be recommended in the A6091/A7 Route Action Plan.

Lewis Macdonald: Injury accident statistics for each of the last six years (Jan 1996 – Dec 2001) for the A7 trunk road south of Galashiels, broken down to show statistics for the sections at Boleside and Groundistone are as follows:

  A7 Galashiels to Border

  
 Year Fatal
Serious Slight
Total  1996
1 5
27 33
 1997 0
2 19
21  1998
1 2
16 19
 1999 0
6 15
21  2000
2 7
12 21
 2001 0
4 14
18  Total
4 26
103 133


  A7 at Boleside

  
 Year Fatal
Serious Slight
Total  1996
0 1
3 4
 1997 0
0 1
1  1998
0 0
3 3
 1999 0
0 0
0  2000
0 1
0 1
 2001 0
0 1
1  Total
0 2
8 10


  A7 at Groundistone

  
 Year Fatal
Serious Slight
Total  1996
0 0
1 1
 1997 0
0 1
1  1998
0 0
0 0
 1999 0
0 0
0  2000
0 2
1 3
 2001 0
1 2
3  Total
0 3
5 8

Roads

Mr Murray Tosh (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-24752 by Lewis Macdonald on 16 May 2002, whether it will issue an updated profile of its projected trunk roads programme and identify all proposed additional projects, in the light of the revised budgetary allocations set out in Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys .

Lewis Macdonald: Total expenditure on the trunk road programme from 2002-03 to 2005-06 is set out on page 46 of Building a Better Scotland. Detailed level 3 allocations have yet to be determined. The overall allocations include additional resources for preparation of the A8 and A80 motorway upgrades.

Schools

Alex Johnstone (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will produce national guidelines on rural school closures following the consideration of this matter by the Education, Culture and Sport Committee and COSLA.

Nicol Stephen: The Executive will take forward with COSLA discussion of the Convention’s unsuccessful attempt to produce a Code of Practice on rural school closures, following a recommendation to that effect made to COSLA by the Education, Culture and Sport Committee. The purpose of such discussion will be to consider the original objectives, progress made and whether, and if so how, this matter should be pursued.

Scottish Executive Website

Mr Andrew Welsh (Angus) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent on building and maintaining its website since May 1999.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Scottish Executive website is undergoing a programme of continuous development under the direction of the web editorial board. This has resulted in a significant increase in activity on the website. The number of page impressions per month averaged 1 million in 2000, rising to 2.25 million in 2001 and to 2.91 million in the period from January to August 2002. The development programme is closely integrated with the work on building and maintaining the website. Given that the work falls to the same team, we do not separate the costs of development from the on-going costs. The Scottish Executive has spent £580,000 on building, maintaining and developing its website since May 1999. This figure is broken down in the table.

  
 Staff salaries
£277,000  Design 
services £111,000
 Web hosting
£110,000  Equipment 
and software £30,000
 Contractor costs
£19,000  Search 
engine optimisation and traffic analysis £18,000
 User needs survey
£15,000  Total
£580,000 

  Note:

  These figures are exclusive of VAT.

Scottish Executive Website

Mr Andrew Welsh (Angus) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many hits its website received in each month since May 1999.

Mr Andy Kerr: The activity on the Scottish Executive website is measured in page impressions which is a universally recognised measure of website activity, sometimes referred to as website hits.

  The Scottish Executive website had an average of 1 million page impressions per month in 2000, rising to 2.25 million in 2001 and to 2.91 million in the period from January to August 2002. We do not have comparable information for 1999. We can only provide monthly information from January 2001 as we do not retain detailed log files prior to that date. The monthly figures since January 2001 are set out in the table.

  
 2001
2002  January 
 1,659,586
January  3,604,901
 February 
1,787,211 February 
2,881,753  March 
 2,392,339
March  2,922,866
 April 
1,994,269 April 
3,041,109  May 
 1,911,874
May  3,066,677
 Jun  1,841,343
Jun  2,409,684
 Jul  2,072,431
Jul  2,677,849
 Aug  2,072,239
Aug  2,669,064
 Sep  2,478,842 
 Oct  2,565,028 
 Nov  3,365,779 
 Dec  2,842,830 
 2001 Monthly Average: 2,248,585
2002 Monthly Average: 2,909,237

Scottish Transport Group Pension Schemes

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-28257 by Lewis Macdonald on 5 September 2002, how many people have been identified under categories (a) to (e) in the booklet issued by the Scottish Public Pensions Agency regarding the Scottish Transport Group pension fund notes on the disbursement of ex-gratia payments, broken down by category; whether the total number of people so identified is 13,336, and, if the figure is different, what the reason is for the position on the matter.

Lewis Macdonald: The information requested is not held centrally in the form requested.

Secure Units

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many young girls have been placed in secure units for their own safety in each local authority area in each of the last three years.

Cathy Jamieson: Information on the numbers of girls placed in secure units for their own safety from each local authority area between 1998-99 and 2000-01 is given in the following table.

  The figures include only placements which are either a place of safety order or warrant made under the Children (Scotland) Act 1995, or where committal to a place of safety or other temporary detention is made under the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act (1995).

  
 Area of Residence Prior to Admission
1998-99 1999-2000
2000-01  Aberdeen 
City ..
.. ..
 Aberdeenshire
.. 0
..  Angus
.. 6
..  Argyll and 
Bute 0
0 ..
 Clackmannanshire
0 0
0  Dumfries and 
Galloway ..
0 0
 Dundee City
.. 7
..  East Ayrshire
.. 0
0  East Dunbartonshire
0 0
0  East Lothian
0 0
0  East Renfrewshire
.. 0
0  Edinburgh, City 
of ..
0 0
 Eilean Siar
0 0
0  Falkirk
0 ..
..  Fife
.. 0
..  Glasgow City
.. ..
..  Highland
0 0
0  Inverclyde
0 0
..  Midlothian
0 0
..  Moray
0 0
0  North Ayrshire
0 0
..  North Lanarkshire
0 0
..  Orkney
0 0
0  Perth and Kinross
0 ..
..  Renfrewshire.
0 0
0  Scottish Borders
.. 0
0  Shetland
0 0
0  South Ayrshire
0 0
0  South Lanarkshire
0 0
0  Stirling
0 0
..  West Dunbartonshire
0 0
0  West Lothian
.. ..
..  Area not recorded
0 0
.. 

  Source: Scottish Executive R1C residential care for children statistics.

  Note: Cells shown as .. contain between one and four children, but the exact number cannot be shown to ensure confidentiality of the children, in line with the National Statistics code of practice.

Sexual Offences

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-27000 by Mr Jim Wallace on 18 July 2002, what funding has been provided to evaluate the usefulness of hair analysis in detecting drugs in a person’s system in order to provide corroborating evidence when a drug-assisted sexual assault has been alleged and when this evaluation will be completed.

Mr Jim Wallace: Funding for particular research projects at universities is a matter for the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council and the UK Research Councils.

Sheltered Housing

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what national standards of care apply to the provision of warden services in sheltered housing and whether any such standards contain information on the minimum acceptable levels of staffing and hours of provision of the service.

Malcolm Chisholm: Scottish ministers, prior to the establishment of the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care (Care Commission) on 1 April 2002, published national care standards covering a wide range of care provision. The Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 defines the services to be regulated by the Care Commission against the National Care Standards.

  While sheltered housing provision is not defined specifically within the act if they met the definition of, for example, a housing support service or alternatively a care home, the relevant national care standards would apply. It is for the Care Commission to make decisions on registration and other issues such as staffing levels based on the statement of function and purpose and other information provided by the services as part of the application process.

Social Justice

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive why milestone 6 of the Social Justice Annual Report Scotland 2001 - A Scotland where everyone matters , reducing the number of households with children living in temporary accommodation, is not an objective, target or indicator in the social justice section of its 2003-06 spending proposals.

Ms Margaret Curran: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-29358 on 30 September 2002. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Social Justice

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive why milestone 14 of the Social Justice Annual Report Scotland 2001 - A Scotland where everyone matters , reducing the proportion of working age people with low incomes, is not an objective, target or indicator in the social justice section of its 2003-06 spending proposals.

Ms Margaret Curran: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-29358 on 30 September 2002. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Social Justice

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive why milestone 23 of the Social Justice Annual Report Scotland 2001 - A Scotland where everyone matters , reducing the fear of crime among older people, is not an objective, target or indicator in the social justice section of its 2003-06 spending proposals.

Ms Margaret Curran: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-29358 on 30 September 2002. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Social Justice

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive why target 6 of the social justice section of its 2003-06 spending proposals only seeks to reduce the number of households that become homeless more than once in a year.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Executive is committed to preventing and tackling homelessness through delivery of the recommendations of the Homelessness Task Force. A key part of the action programme aims to reduce levels of repeat homelessness and the Executive wishes to ensure strong progress through local authorities in achieving this over the period to 2006.

  An extensive study into Repeat Homelessness by Heriot Watt University for the task force estimated that some 27% of current homelessness applications are repeat applications, and that most of these are separated by relatively short time periods between applications. In most cases, the inter-application period is six months or less, and in only three per cent of cases is it more than three years.

  Social Justice Target 6 will focus effort on preventing repeat homelessness, an area where there is a clear need to improve homelessness performance and which also lends itself to a target-setting approach. New statistical information from the Homelessness Electronic Data System introduced in December 2001 will for the first time enable measurement of the extent of repeat homelessness.

  The Homelessness Monitoring Group, set up to oversee progress in the delivery of the task force recommendations, will play a key role in monitoring progress against this target. The monitoring group will also monitor wider performance on homelessness against other homelessness indicators recommended by the task force in areas where the task force considered it was not appropriate to set specific targets.

Special Advisers

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what restrictions it places on the future employment of special advisers when they leave its employment.

Mr Andy Kerr: Under the terms of the Model Contract for Special Advisers (Bib Number. 22440 in the Parliament’s Reference Centre), Advisers are required in certain circumstances to obtain agreement before accepting an offer of employment outside the civil service which would start within two years of leaving Crown employment. It is the personal responsibility of all former special advisers to ensure that they comply with these requirements.

Special Advisers

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what contact John McTernan has had with civil servants or ministers since leaving his post as a special adviser to the former First Minister Henry McLeish MSP and what subjects were discussed during any such contact.

Mr Andy Kerr: Comprehensive records of contacts are not held centrally. However, I am aware of two contacts on official business since John McTernan left his post as a Special Adviser to the First Minister. The first of these was a meeting with an official for a general discussion on the work of the Scottish Council Foundation. The second was contact with the office of the Deputy Minister for Finance and Public Services to make necessary arrangements relating to the Deputy Minister’s participation in a seminar entitled "Choice in Public Services" aimed at NHS senior managers and practitioners in Scotland. Mr McTernan subsequently attended the seminar as did the Deputy Minister.

Taxation

Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what impact the use of a Scottish service tax to increase public spending would have on the block grant.

Peter Peacock: There would be no direct impact on the block grant but consideration would have to be given to the loss of £300 million in council tax benefit income to councils.

Traffic

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to the second supplementary question to question S1F-1968 by Mr Jack McConnell on 13 June 2002, whether its position remains that clear public support is required for a congestion charging scheme to go ahead in Edinburgh.

Lewis Macdonald: Yes.

Traffic

Nora Radcliffe (Gordon) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it remains committed to the stabilisation of road traffic at 2001 levels by 2021, as referred to in Scotland’s Transport: Delivering Improvement .

Lewis Macdonald: Yes. As the Executive’s Transport Delivery Report, Scotland’s Transport: Delivering Improvements indicates, we will strive to stabilise road traffic at 2001 levels by 2021 by modernising and improving public transport, promoting alternative modes of transport to the private car, and making targeted motorway and trunk road improvements. The recent substantial increase in our transport budget, to more than £1 billion by 2005-06, will provide the resources to allow us to take forward these priorities.

Transport

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to the Department for Transport and the Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency about the impact on its responsibilities of any conjoining of the Traffic Commissioner and the Vehicle Inspectorate.

Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues, including those relating to the merger of the Traffic Area Network (which supports the Traffic Commissioners in the fulfilment of their statutory responsibilities) and the Vehicle Inspectorate Executive Agency.

Water Authorities

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many operational staff there were in each water authority in each year since 1996 and what percentage of overall employees this represented.

Ross Finnie: North, East and West of Scotland Water Authorities ceased to operate from 1 April 2002 and were formally wound up on 29 June 2002. Employee information by service for the years 1996 to 2002 is contained in their published annual reports and accounts - available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. numbers given in the following table):

  
 Year
Bib. Numbers  North
East West
 1996-97
9751 12833
12836  1997-98
12832 12834
12837  1998-99
4005 12835
4004  1999-2000
8790 7898
7925  2000-01
16464 17792
16463  2001-02
24607 24610
24612